RAILROAD SIGNALS of the U.S.

American Railroads Merger Chart
and Family History Charts
 

The first drawing outlines the majority of American (and Canadian) railroad mergers that have taken place during the 1900's (we're ten years into the next century and millennium, and it still seems weird to refer to it in that manner, it feels so 18-hundreds-ish!)

The heritage railroads are around the edge, what we have today is in the middle, and what we might have in the future is the big question mark.  The heritage railroads are what was generally around during the 1950-1960 years.  The only railroad that has prevailed since it's inception in the 1800's is the Union Pacific - way to go UP!  And can you believe the Conrail split-up is already 11 years behind us!

I have a few corrections to make already, as I stopped by a CN PDF and noted the following: The IC merged in 2001, the WC merged in 2003, Great Lakes Transportation merged in 2005, and the BCR merged in 2005.

I will add a few individual merger charts as soon as I convert them into JPEGS: the Santa Fe, CSX, NS, BNSF, CN, CR, the B&O, the NH, the N&W, and the Southern Rwy.

This page will load pretty slow, even on hi-speed, as the JPEGs are full size around half a meg each.  Please send me any additions or corrections.

Disclaimer: A lot of the info... dates, railroad names, etc, came off the internet, some from Wikipedia, so it may not be as accurate as it should (or could) be, but they give the viewer a pretty good idea of the family history and when things happened.

NEW 7-16-2010
Last Modified 19-Jul-2010